Nicola Abbagnano - philosopher

Thinker who championed ‘positive existentialism’ 

Nicola Abbagnano rejected the
negative tenets of existentialism

The philosopher Nicola Abbagnano, best known for his advancement of what he defined as positive existentialism, was born on this day in 1901 in Salerno in Campania.

Abbagnano, who spent much of his adult life in Turin, Milan and the Ligurian resort town of Santa Margherita Ligure, developed a philosophy that emphasised human possibility and freedom, rejecting more traditional existentialist discussions that focussed on how the struggle to create purpose in an inherently meaningless world can engender feelings of anguish and despair.

Many years on from his death in 1990, Abbagnano’s legacy of intellectual optimism continues to inspire philosophers who seek a balanced, pragmatic approach to existential questions, while his emphasis on ethical responsibility resonates in contemporary debates on human behaviour.

Abbagnano was born into a middle-class professional family in Salerno, where his father was a practising lawyer. He obtained a degree in philosophy in Naples, where his thesis became the subject of his first book Le sorgenti irrazionali del pensiero - The Irrational Sources of Thought, published in 1923. 

He subsequently taught philosophy and history at the Liceo Umberto I, in Naples, and from 1917 to 1936 he was the professor of philosophy and pedagogy in the Istituto di Magistero Suor Orsola Benincasa. 

From 1936 to 1976 he was based at the University of Turin, where he was appointed a full professor, first of the history of philosophy at the Faculty of Education, and from 1939 at the Faculty of Letters and Philosophy.

The inner courtyard of the Palazzo dell'Università
in Turin, where Abbagnano was based for 40 years

As a scholar of philosophy, Abbagnano introduced into the national discourse his knowledge of the French and German existentialist trends, of which Heidegger, Jaspers and Sartre were leading exponents.

His 1939 work, La struttura dell'esistenza - The Structure of Existence - is seen as a manifesto of the evolution of his thought, in which he proposed an alternative to the German existentialism of Heidegger and Jaspers.

He defined his philosophical vision as positive existentialism. In his work Possibilità e libertà - Possibility and Freedom - published in 1956, he clarified the meaning of his philosophy as neither pessimistic nor optimistic. He did not subscribe to the vision of man as being so hindered by uncertainty as to be prevented from achieving full potential, but accepted that fulfilment could never be certain. 

Abbagnano wrote extensively. In 1950, he was co-founder of the periodical Quaderni di sociologia - Sociology Notebooks - and in 1952 he was joint editor with the political philosopher Norberto Bobbio of the Rivista di filosofia - Philosophy Magazine. 

In 1964, he began writing for the Turin newspaper La Stampa, moving to Indro Montanelli’s Milan daily, Il Giornale, in 1972. 

Abbagnano's legacy of intellectual
optimism still inspires philosophers

Earlier, in the 1950s, he had organised a series of conventions under the banner of "New Enlightenment," bringing together academics who were interested in the main trends of the foreign philosophical thought. 

Many of his books, especially later in his career, became bestsellers, including his 1987 work La saggezza della filosofia - The Wisdom of Philosophy - and Dizionario di filosofia - Dictionary of Philosophy, published the same year.

His salary as a professor and his income from his writing enabled him to spend an increasing amount of time away from the oppressive heat of the cities on the coast of Liguria in Portofino and Santa Margherita Ligure, where he acquired a home in 1959.

He delighted in the sunsets witnessed from Portofino, which for a few minutes, depending on weather conditions, bathed the village in a subtle, blue light. He also enjoyed swimming in the sea and chatting to fishermen on his walks along the waterfront.

It was in Santa Margherita Ligure, on the beach in front of the Hotel Continental, that he met Gigliola, with whom he spent the final 18 years of his life after they married in 1972. 

Abbagnano died in 1990 in Milan, aged 89. According to his wishes, he was buried in the cemetery of Santa Margherita Ligure.

The historic part of Salerno is made
up of quaint, narrow streets

Travel tip:

Salerno, situated some 55km (34 miles) south of Naples with a population of about 133,000, is a city with a reputation as an industrial port and is often overlooked by visitors to Campania, who tend to flock to Naples, Sorrento, the Amalfi coast and the Cilento. Yet it has an attractive waterfront and a quaint old town, at the heart of which is the Duomo, originally built in the 11th century, which houses in its crypt the tomb of one of the twelve apostles of Christ, Saint Matthew the Evangelist. It is also a good base for excursions both to the Amalfi coast, just a few kilometres to the north, and the Cilento, which can be found at the southern end of the Gulf of Salerno. Hotels are also cheaper than at the more fashionable resorts. The city has a Greek and Roman heritage and was an important Lombard principality in the middle ages, when the first medical school in the world was founded there. King Victor Emmanuel III moved there in 1943, making it a provisional seat of Government for six months and it was the scene of Allied landings during the invasion of Italy in World War II.  

The 16th century Castello di Santa
Margherita sits at the sea's edge
 

Travel tip:

Santa Margherita Ligure is a seaside town nestled between Rapallo and Portofino on the Riviera di Levante, noted for its pastel-coloured buildings, palm-lined promenades and lively marina.  Once a Roman settlement called Pescino, it has been a resort town since World War Two, with pebbly but picturesque beaches. Important buildings include the Basilica di Santa Margherita d'Antiochia, a beautiful baroque church, the 17th century Villa Durazzo, and the Castello di Santa Margherita, built in the 16th-century to defend against pirates.  The former fishing village of Portofino, which has become a resort famous for its picturesque harbour and historical association with celebrity visitors, is about 5km (three miles) from Santa Margherita Ligure along a road that hugs the coastline. It began to develop as a tourist destination in the late 19th century, when British and other Northern European aristocratic tourists were enticed by its charms, despite access then being mainly by boat, or horse and cart. 

Also on this day:

1979: The birth of writer and poet Pietro Ruggeri da Stabello

1823: Fire damages Rome Basilica of Saint Paul Outside-the-Walls

1850: The birth of missionary and saint Frances Xavier Cabrini

1933: The birth of cartoonist Guido Crepax

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Francesco Alberoni – sociologist

Academic explained the mystery of falling in love

Francesco Alberoni wrote more than 25 books,
some published in 20 languages

Francesco Alberoni, who became a well-known sociologist because of his regular columns in Il Corriere della Sera, was born on this day in 1929 in Borgonovo Val Tidone in the province of Piacenza in Emilia-Romagna.

Alberoni was successful with the short books he wrote on the themes of love, good and evil, and ethics, and his work explored the dynamics of social relations. In 1979 he produced a bestseller, Innamoramento e amore (Falling in Love).

He was the descendant of a famous Cardinal from Piacenza, Giulio Alberoni, who was active in European diplomatic circles in the 17th century.

But his own upbringing was during the Fascist era in Italy and while he studied at the Liceo Scientifico in Piacenza, he claims he was subjected to military-style discipline.

Alberoni moved to Pavia to study medicine, where he met the Capuchin friar, Agostino Gemelli, who encouraged him to pursue his interest in the study of social behaviour.

His first book, L’Elite senza potere - Elite without Power - was published in 1963. Alberoni then published a further three books before he completed the work that was to set out the foundations for his own sociological ideas, Movimento e istituzione - Movement and Institution - which was published in 1977.

This was one of the first books on the sociological analysis of movements and it explored how leadership, ideas and communication all come together to fuel the birth of different movements.

Innamoramento e amore became
a bestseller in Italy

His most famous book, Falling in Love, maintains that the experience of falling in love is in essence the nascent state, or "ignition state", of a collective movement which is made up exclusively of two people.

In exploring the subject, Alberoni used the language of love stories rather than psychological or sociological jargon, which may explain the book’s popularity. Falling in Love has since been translated into 20 languages and, after ten editions, is still in print in Italy.

The sociologist was one of just a few regular front page writers for Corriere della Sera, who published his columns from 1973 to 2011.

Meanwhile, Alberoni had a distinguished academic career, holding professorships at a number of universities in Italy and Europe.

He wrote more than 25 books about sociology and has also had collections of his essays published, despite not having enjoyed his own early education during the Fascist era. He has also said he did not have much access to books when he was young and therefore started to enjoy the pleasure of reading himself, only when he was a teenager.

Alberoni was at one time a board member of  RAI, the Italian state television network, and a president of the Centro Sperimentale Cinematografia, the Italian national film school based in Rome.

He had three children with his first wife, Vincenza Pugliese. He later had a fourth child with his partner, Laura Bonin. He named this child Giulio after his famous ancestor. In 1988, he was married for the second time, to another sociologist, Rosa Giannetta.

Alberoni died of kidney disease in Milan in 2023, aged 93.

Borgonovo Val Tidone's 's town hall is house 
in a repurposed Sforza castle 

Travel tip:

Borgonovo Val Tidone, where Alberoni was born, is a town of just under 8,000 residents in Emilia-Romagna, located about 160km (99 miles) northwest of Bologna and about 20km (12 miles) west of Piacenza. Nestling at the feet of the Apennines, the town is situated not far from the river Tidone, which supposedly owes its name to the Carthagian leader, Hannibal. Legend says that the Carthaginian leader, as a gesture of gratitude for crossing the river, threw a ring in the water with the words ti dono - I give you. Once controlled by the Sforza family of Milan, Borgonovo Val Tidone is the home of Chisöla, a type of focaccia bread made with pork rind, which is the highlight of the town’s annual gastronomic fair each September. 

Piacenza's Piazza Cavalli is notable for its two
equestrian statues by Francesco Mochi

Travel tip

Piacenza is the first major city along the route of the Via Emilia, the Roman road that connected Piacenza with the Adriatic resort of Rimini. Parma, some 66km (41 miles) along the route, is the next, followed by Reggio Emilia, Modena and Bologna. The main square in Piacenza is named Piazza Cavalli because of its two bronze equestrian monuments featuring Alexander Farnese, Duke of Parma and his son Ranuccio I Farnese, Duke of Parma, who succeeded him. The statues are masterpieces by the sculptor Francesco Mochi.  The city is situated between the River Po and the Apennines, with Milan just over 72km (45 miles) to the northwest. Piacenza Cathedral, built in 1122, is a good example of northern Italian Romanesque architecture.  Among many notable people, Piacenza is the birthplace of Giorgio Armani, founder of the eponymous fashion house.

Also on this day:

1493: The birth of Eleonora Gonzaga, Duchess of Urbino

1842: The birth of painter Giovanni Boldini

1855: The birth of poet Giovanni Pascoli

1990: The death of architect Giovanni Michelucci

New Year’s Eve - Festa di San Silvestro

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